Human Shield: Part 2
by whynotzoidberg
Summary: Part 2 of this story...my version of the 'verse is bit different from the actual one.


"Let's get the goods out and onto a carrier. Zoe, I need you to drive to the rendezvous point," a voice called. The pod bay door opened and several people stepped out. I stood up.

Suddenly a bullet slipped through the air and buried into my shoulder. I grimaced.

"What the heck is that?" another voice asked. They stepped closer. From behind the dust I could make out two male forms and one female.

"I am a…I mean… I was Abira. I'm a cyborg," I called. "And I mean you no harm."

"A cyborg? Weren't those all decommissioned years ago?" asked the second voice.

"Yes, but I am an experiment," I answered. They stepped closer.

"An Alliance experiment?" asked the man who shot me. His pistol was held steadily in his hand.

I looked down at the Alliance decals on my chest and on my arms. I nodded.

"Then why shouldn't I shoot you right now?" he asked. He was obviously an Independent.

"I don't know. You could shoot me all you like. I'm not in support of the Alliance though," I said calmly, wincing at the robotic tinge in my voice.

"But you're an Alliance robot," the second man grumbled.

"I was an Alliance experiment. A failed experiment. They left me here to die."

The man holstered his gun. "She's no threat. Now get the goods on the carrier and get Kaylee."

I smiled and walked towards him.

"Robot, what are you good at?" he asked.

I flinched at the word robot but answered, "I don't know yet. But I was a Reaver researcher before I was a cyborg."

He contemplated this. Soon, a girl in a floral shirt and overalls stepped out of the ship.

"This is Kaylee, she's our resident mechanic and I'm sure she can fix ya right up," he explained. Kaylee took my arm and pulled me into the ship.

"I'm Kaylee and that was Mal, the capt'n. He can be kinda gruff but he's a good guy" she muttered.

"He shot me."

"Yeah, he does that," she replied. I followed her down a flight of stairs and into a white room labeled "The Infirmary." Inside it was a cleanly dressed doctor and a girl in a dress.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not exactly human. Normal stitches won't do for me," I remarked. But Kaylee sat me down anyway.

"Hey Simon, you got a patient."

The doctor turned to me.

"Ah, hello, I'm Simon, the medic, and this is River, my sister," he said, as if he had expected us.

I nodded. "I'm Abira." He took a closer look at my shoulder.

"I can remove the bullet but her shoulder is completely machinery so I can't do anything further than that," he explained. Then, he stuck a thin pair of pliers into my shoulder. It didn't hurt obviously, but it did tickle a bit. Once all the shrapnel was out, he stepped back.

"Weren't all cyborgs shut down and scrapped some years ago?"

I smiled. "Yep."

"Strength," muttered the girl in the dress. We all turned to face her. "Abira is Hebrew for strength."

I smiled again. "Good to know."

Kaylee smiled with me and took my hand. "I'll bring ya down to the engine room where all my tools are. I'll have you fixed up in no time."

I nodded and waved my goodbyes to the doctor and his sister.

Inside the engine room, I was shut off for repairs. When I was turned back on, I could hear the ship moving.

"Kaylee, are we in the air?"

Kaylee nodded. She was wiping off some of her tools.

"Let's show you off to the crew," she said with a smile.

I was pushed into the commons room where most of the crew was seated.

"Everyone, meet Abira."

I waited for a response.

"What are her skills?" asked the captain, looking rather uninterested.

"Well, I scanned her mainframe and found that she has been equipped with everything she needs to be a successful, well, anything. She can speak over a hundred languages, identify, disassemble, reassemble, and fire almost any weapon, and do the same for any ship. She also has a lot of smarts when it comes to the galaxy, includin' Reavers. She has medical and mechanical knowledge as well. Honestly, she's an entire crew in one person." Kaylee gasped for breath.

I was dumbfounded.

"But unfortunately, most of this knowledge is dormant. It won't appear until the situation calls for it," Kaylee continued.

The captain nodded.

"So can we keep her?"

"I suppose so. She's seems useful enough. By the way, I'm your captain, Malcolm Reynolds."

I nodded.

"You already know Kaylee. Other than her there's my first mate Zoe, her husband and the pilot of this boat, Wash, our hired gun Jayne, the boat's whore Inara, the medic Simon, his crazy sister River, and Shepherd Book."

"A Shepherd? In these parts?"

An older man, obviously Shepherd Book, stood up and smiled.

"You are a long way from home," I said. He nodded tenderly.

"All right, well, back to your posts. Enough chit chat," the captain snarled.

Zoe and Walsh walked up to the cockpit, Jayne retired to the loading docks, and Kaylee disappeared into the engine room, leaving the Shepherd, the captain, and me.

"So, I heard that you're a robot," mentioned the shepherd.

"Not quite. Technically speaking, I'm a cyborg," I replied.

"How's you shoulder?" Malcolm asked bluntly.

"Fine. Kaylee fixed me up."

Malcolm stood up and pulled my shirt down, revealing my new shoulder. The metal shined just a little.

"Most of you is metal. You're a robot." Then he turned to leave.

I grimaced. "I'm as human as you are captain. I'm not just some machine."

He shrugged as he left.

Shepherd Book placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. You should go find Inara, I'm sure she has some clothes you can borrow."

I looked down at the wind tattered Alliance uniform I was wearing. The kind Shepherd pointed me in the right direction and I followed his instructions.


End file.
